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When Curiosity was born: a peek at Mars rover during construction at JPL, one year ago

Xeni Jardin at 9:51 am Sat, Aug 4, 2012

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In April, 2011, the engineers at JPL gave Boing Boing permission to visit the clean room where the next Mars rover, Curiosity, had just been completed, for an exclusive first look.

Photographer Joseph Linaschke made the trek (and donned the bunny suit) on our behalf, and brought back breathtaking photos of the magnificent martian machine.

The full Boing Boing photo gallery is here, with caption assist from JPL.

Above, the Mars Science Laboratory's descent stage, which files the rover down to Mars' surface using eight rockets, and lowers it on a tether for landing. The orange spheres are propellant tanks.

Here's a roundup of ways to watch, as Curiosity attempts landing the night of Aug 5 (that's tomorrow).

* There are even more images on Joseph's site (pssst: news orgs, they're available for licensing, ask him.)

 
  • Mission to Mars: Anticipating NASA rover 'Curiosity' touchdown ...
  • Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity headed for Mars landing ...
  • Are we all Martians? The curious hunt for life on Mars
  • NASA's Ashwin Vasavada talks Mars Science Laboratory and ...
  • William Shatner and Wil Wheaton welcome NASA's Curiosity rover ...
  • NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover as Art
  • 1909 Lincoln Penny goes to Mars on Curiosity
  • Curiosity rover on its way to Mars -

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

MORE:  curiosity • jpl • Mars • mars science laboratory • MSL • NASA • Science • Space • space flight • spaceflight • spaceship

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  • nixiebunny

    It’s a bit startling to see Sharpie writing on flight hardware, but I guess standards have been lowered in the last ten years. 

    • Alexander Rauchfuss

      Or they might just be temp covers on the fuel tanks. /sarcasm

  • http://profiles.google.com/stephen.schenck Stephen Schenck

    If Linaschke attended on behalf of Boing Boing, why did he ugly-up the pictures with his copyblah all over them? 

  • Jay Converse

    http://eyes.nasa.gov/launch2.html?document=%24SERVERURL%2Fcontent%2Fdocuments%2Fmsl%2Fedl.xml

  • http://theladyfingers.blogspot.com/ Ladyfingers

    A bit of a tasteless choice of subject matter on  Caturday.

    • Antinous / Moderator

      Perhaps a script to change every instance of Mars Rover to Mars Whiskers.

  • u89djt

    Too much bokeh. Think cowbell.

  • ocker3

    Pedant:  “…which files the rover down…”

    I’m sure the orbital mechanics drove the timing of this event, or they wouldn’t have put it so close to the Olympics.